Diorama Ideas & Planning

Diorama Ideas and Plans

Building a diorama has a lot of steps but one that is very often overlooked is planning which is one of the most important. Most dioramas that miss the mark are because of poor planning or no planning at all. This is an area where your mock-ups come in, plan what you want, what time period you are trying to replicate, what scale vehicles will be in the scene, what figures you want, accessories that will help make it look & feel real.

This may be a miniature of some scene you have seen in your past, or one you have imagined in your mind. If it is something that you can physically see, take some pictures of it from many different angles. Pictures are always nice to refer to for ideas or something that may trip an idea in your mind that you may not have thought of without the pictures. You can never have too many pictures for ideas. You can also visit your local library or the Internet which also works nice for accessory ideas & details. Hobby stores carry miniature accessories & materials for doll houses, etc. they may not be the scale you want but they will give you ideas of what are possible or something that you may be able to build.

You can see by the photos that I made a mock-up of the 3 car garage before I started building. You can see the completed project right here & it came out the perfect size & design that I had in my head.

Once you have a full plan together create your mock-ups & place them in the areas of your base which most correctly highlights what you want. Turn them different directions on your base, is your base the correct size to accommodate what you want when the scene is completely finished, if not now is the time to make the corrections. Careful planning will go a long way in creating the scene you really want & it will be time well spent.

What is your primary goal with your diorama? Is it to highlight a particular vehicle, a particular scene, time period, or event you attended? Keep your primary goal in mind as you continue your build, obstacles will arise but if you keep your primary goal in mind you will stay on track. You can always make adjustments such as rearrange your figures or add or delete something. Or you can change some accessories, but by keeping your primary goal in mind you will be happy with the end result.

If you are trying to create an action scene think it through thoroughly because some scenes are harder to create than others. Say you want a garage scene with a mechanic tuning up a car this may be harder to pull off when someone sees the diorama but you may be able to have the mechanic tightening a bolt on the engine or changing the air cleaner & it may be simpler to pull off. It all depends on what you are trying to pull off, is this for yourself, other builders to see, loan to a library for display, contest, or just to set in your family room for everyone who stops by to see. Think about this when you are planning because different people will be viewing it & you know everyone has their own opinion, no matter if you want to hear it or not.

Related Posts:

Neon Ideas For Your Diorama - Diorama builders can always use more ideas, how about neon signs. D B Collectibles in Antigo, Wisconsin has a large...

Diorama Accessory Ideas –01 - Diorama Accessory Ideas Welcome to How To Make A Diorama .com This is just a reminder that there are accessory...